Dr Soliman Fakeeh Hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia has been awarded the highest level of validation for its digital maturity by HIMSS.

Earlier this week, the hospital achieved Stage 7 on the Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model, (EMRAM), which measures the adoption and maturity of a health facility’s electronic medical record (EMR) capabilities from 0 to 7. 

The EMRAM assessment involves testing for clinician documentation, including orders, e-prescribing, patient engagement and population health analytics.

HIMSS assessors from the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, England and Portugal noted the excellent security arrangements in place at Dr Soliman Fakeeh to guard against external cyber-attacks.

The hospital was also praised for its interactive performance management tool, which uses dashboards to deliver information on a single screen providing clinicians and managers with real time access to current activity and information about strategic objective attainment. This system enables managers to measure, monitor, and manage performance more effectively.

WHY IT MATTERS

EMRAM Stage 7 is the highest level of validation, demonstrating an organisation has fully adopted and is harnessing technology to support optimised patient care.

THE LARGER CONTEXT 

Dr Soliman Fakeeh is the 26^th organisation to be awarded Stage 7 validation by HIMSS this year. Among them is the Dr Sulaiman Al-Habib Medical Group in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia, which was recently awarded Stage 7 of the EMRAM.

Also in the region, King Abdulaziz Medical City in Riyadh was validated at Stage 7 of the HIMSS Adoption Model for Analytics Maturity (AMAM), which measures the analytics capabilities healthcare organisations have gained from having a strong analytics strategy and competency, and advances in organisations’ healthcare analytics regardless of the technologies installed.

Three Saudi Arabian hospitals in the Mouwasat group based in Qatif, Damman and Riyadh also achieved Stage 7 EMRAM in June.

Meanwhile in the UK, Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust has become the first specialist trust in the UK and the first paediatric hospital in Europe to be awarded EMRAM Stage 7.

ON THE RECORD

Regional director of EMEA at HIMSS, John Rayner, who led the assessment at Dr Soliman Fakeeh Hospital, said: “This is a good hospital where practices in the main are consistent and standardised. Clinicians and managers alike have a real sense of ownership and belonging and are rightfully proud of all that has been achieved here.

“Indeed, the amount of technical investment in both pharmacy and in the laboratory was outstanding and quite possibly some of the best that I have ever seen.”